Great Things are Expected
by cherrycool
Summary: Fine," she conceded grumpily. "But you can be the one to tell him that one of his namesakes killed the other." Ginny contemplates the heroic namesakes of her children, and the pressures they hold. Oneshot, GinnyHarry, R&R!


_Just a short one ... definitely should be studying, but oh well ... was re-reading the last bit of DH the other night and found myself contemplating what it would be like to be named after great war heroes, so this popped into my head and simply refused to leave until I wrote it down, so here you go ... enjoy! :D_

**Disclaimer: **_Oh you know the drill ..._

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"Oh, Harry … I'm not sure, really I'm not …"

Ginny Potter gazed into the eyes of her husband, willing him to see sense. Clutched in her arms was a tiny baby girl, her few strands of hair already vividly red, her beautiful brown eyes already closed.

Harry sighed next to her. "I won't push you," he said softly, staring at his small daughter. "But … think about it."

Ginny tucked several strands of hair behind her ear and nodded tiredly, several reasons already running through her mind as to why they should not call the newest additions to the Potter family Lily.

The main one was, as with the first two, that the name 'Potter' was already an awful lot to live up to. People were going to expect marvellous things from the children of Harry Potter; _from_ _the moment they are born_, Ginny thought sadly, _there will be an expectance from the world_.

And so, she believed, calling their children after deceased heroes was only doubling said pressure. James Sirius Potter was the first, and thankfully, he was doing alright. Cheeky and high spirited, at almost five years old James was already proving to be something of a reincarnation of his namesakes; he was forever getting into trouble. And Ginny had been relieved.

Albus Severus had not been so easy though. "You can't name him after Dumbledore!" Ginny had argued. "No, Harry, it's completely unfair. Dumbledore was the most exceptional wizard of his time, he'll feel compelled to live up to it!" And she had almost fainted when he had expressed his desire to add 'Severus' as a middle name. "_Snape!_" she had bellowed. "Are you positively _mad?!_" Once she had calmed down and allowed Harry to explain his reasoning, she gave in; Harry would not be alive today without Snape. This much she knew to be undeniable truth. His unwavering loyalty to Harry's mother had been beautiful to the end. "Fine," she had conceded grumpily, after many days of thought. "But you can be the one to tell him that one of his namesakes killed the other."

But this baby … her first girl, and probably last child. Herself, she could already tell, in miniature. Would she allow another dead hero's name to be encumbered upon her child's shoulders?

"It's just that …" began Harry softly, gazing out of the window of St. Mungo's. She watched him.

"Well … I mean … each and every one of them died for me, Ginny. They actually gave their lives away without a moment's hesitation to save mine. You just … you just can't imagine how that feels. And I wanted … to make sure that they know how grateful I am, and that their legacies, which they forsook for me, all live on. And to me, there's just no greater honour than naming your own child after someone."

Ginny let out a soft breath, her expression softening.

"I never think about it putting pressure on them," Harry went on. "I'll always love them, no matter what they do or where they end up, so I suppose I simply never see it that way. But like I said, I'm not going to push you," he added gently, stroking her hair as the tiny baby slept peacefully.

Ginny watched the baby's chest breath gently in and out … in and out … in and out …

And she found that she understood her husband. It did not matter what the world expected of James Sirius, Albus Severus, and now, Lily. They were_ her_ children, and no matter what, she would always love them. And she and Harry would raise them well, so that they would not feel pressured to please the world, and they would blossom into happy, confident, well mannered children. She could already see that in James. _Well,_ she thought wryly, _not the last part_.

"Lily it is," she said quietly, meeting Harry's green eyes, eyes that only Al had inherited.

He returned her gaze, expression breaking into a smile. "Are you quite sure?" he asked sincerely. "Because I don't want you to live the rest of your life unhappy with the name of our daughter."

The honesty in his face made tears well in an already hormonally emotional Ginny's eyes as she nodded, clasping Harry's hands. "I'm sure," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "But," she added, the face of her wonderfully odd and ever faithful friend already swimming into her mind. "I get to pick the middle name."

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_ Reviews are most welcome ... ;) but now I really should get back to studying ... sigh, if only there was a career where I could write Harry Potter stories all the live long day ... oh wait, there is ... too bad I'm not JK ... ;)  
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